Hillend middle distance championships.

Today we headed North for approx 11/2 hours to historic Hillend for the Aus middle distance champs.

The drive through the countryside showed the dryness of the area. As we travelled closer to the event centre we started to see more signs of the old gold mining. Hillend itself is a classic old gold town , with very few of the original buildings remaining.

The event arena on the old Post office flat offered a wide open grassy area with two close start points which led into complex mining areas demanding concentration.

 Trevor's map

Erica's map

I grabbed some photos from orienteering Australia taken of Trev and I at the event.

In  this terrain, which was very unusual for the SA runners it wasn't surprising that there were very few great SA results.

Standouts were

• Al S 1st in M65AS
• Joanna G 2nd 
• Marcus C 3rd in novice 10s
• Simon 3rd (and best Aussie)
• Dante 4th
• Jemima and Bridget both 5th.

Trevor ended up 25th of 51, and I was 15th of 28. Neither of us had any huge bungles.

Here are a few photos taken of earlier SA finishers taken  before we headed out on our own courses. 

Other two photos from with OA with thanks 

What does determination look like? 

We stopped for a short while at the local bakery on the way out of town, and when we saw their sign we understood why they had no  more pies on offer. Who could resist this special offer?